when to worm for tapeworms?

[HappyPuppy]

Ruby has this week gotten hold of a couple of baby/young rats ... yuk - chewed them flat and wet but did not eat. I have never wormed her for tapes tho I currently use Trifexis for other worms. Should I preemptively get some tapeworm stuff or wait to see evidence of a telltale infestation? She gets her tongue in my mouth more than my husband LOL so I'm getting paranoid.

[jamielvsaustin]

She gets her tongue in my mouth more than my husband LOL so I'm getting paranoid.

I love it....and it's pretty true for me too. And to be a little twisted...I don't think I'd mind a tapeworm so much. Get to eat whatever the hell I want without gaining any weight...possibly losing weight...sounds like a good deal to me

Do you think a call to the vet would help put you at ease? Personally I'd say worm her, but I know that lots of people don't like to over medicate. For us, our animals have check ups twice a year to which they're given a dewormer medicine-even though I don't think they've ever had worms-with the exception of Gus.

[HappyPuppy]

Aack - just got another one! I'm afraid to get a petsmart wormer since it duplicates much of what's in the heartworm+ Trifexis that I use but I think I'll feed her some diatomaceous earth daily for a week or two - I use that once or twice a week as it is, so we'll see....

[rgyoung777]

First of all, dogs usually get tapeworms from ingesting fleas. When the flea is digested in the dog's stomach and passes through the digestive tract, the tapeworm larvae that were inside the flea migrate into the intestine of the dog. I don't know that it's very likely that Ruby could get a tapeworm from mouthing a rat, though I suppose it is possible she could have ingested fleas from having the rat in her mouth.
Second, though I wouldn't want to replace your vet's advice, I'd personally wait until seeing signs of worms in her stool, or other symptoms that might indicate another parasitic worm infection, but that's just me.
Third, I very much doubt that you're in jeopardy of getting a tapeworm yourself from Ruby licking you, at least not at this stage of the game, especially if all she did was mouth the rats.

As an aside, I encourage all who are curious about parasites to check out a truly excellent podcast I've been listening to for a few days now called TWiP (This Week in Parasitism), which is available from iTunes for free. It's educational, entertaining, and may set your mind at rest, especially about tapeworms (at least in part!).

For the most part, it's actually a myth that tapeworms cause weight loss in people. Most people who have a tapeworm are actually almost completely asymptomatic, and largely unaffected by the parasite. They really don't take enough nutrients from our food to make an impact on our caloric intake, interestingly enough.

[HappyPuppy]

Thanks for that, RG. It ended up being 3 rats so I figured the chances were higher but I also sort of figured that unlike other basic worms, you do have to wait to see the evidence < the thought of that was just creeping me out, I guess. don't think the DE can hurt, so I think I'll continue with that just for my piece of mind.

(Been wondering how you've been, RG... thanks for stepping in )

[BrokenAquarian]

My dogs kill rats a few times a year. I just give them their monthly heartguard(gets most worms but not tapes) and watch for "rice" or "Noodles" when they poop. If there's anything there, I'll medicate.

Hasn't happened yet.